


a pretty cage for my lover

by morningreverie



Category: Shadow and Bone (TV), The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Dark, Dark Magic, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Inspired by Hades and Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Kidnapping, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rape/Non-con Elements, Stockholm Syndrome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:36:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29787246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morningreverie/pseuds/morningreverie
Summary: Trapped by the clever machinations of the Darkling, Alina must learn to confront her own darkness.(A dark Hades & Persephone inspired take on the Grishaverse. With a modern-esque setting. Please take note of tags).
Relationships: The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov
Comments: 10
Kudos: 42





	a pretty cage for my lover

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this some time ago, but only decided to post it because of my own delight over the recent release of the Shadow & Bone trailer. I am *this* excited to see the full show on Netflix.
> 
> I am also excited to share this story. I imagine it will be a number of chapters long, but we will have to see about that. 
> 
> Any grammar mistakes, or mistakes of any kind, are all my own. This was completely written without a beta reader, so I apologise in advance for any error. 
> 
> I should also note that this is a dark and soon-to-be explicit story. Please mind the tags.

Laid upon a bed, Alina Starkov slept deeply and alone.

They had kept her in this room, where only the faintest of sunlight could reach her. The light filtered through the room from a small window above, but as day turned to dusk, even the filtered sunlight seemed to abandon her. Soon, Alina was left to the gathering shadows of nightfall, and even still, Alina continued to sleep.

Hours passed, and as Alina shifted slightly underneath her covers, a tendril of shadow pressed gently against her – an act as reassuring as a lover’s touch.

And it was their company – the spectre of shadows – that watched over her.

Hours passed, and it was the only company she would keep.

**

Mal was finally speaking to her again.

The words were the same as before. He said to her, “Don’t trust him, Alina. He’s nothing but trouble.”

But no, Alina thought, that couldn’t be quite right. Though Mal’s voice was clear, his words came as a whisper. A whisper spoken so softly, it was as if he were leaning against her, murmuring quietly into her ear. Yet every time Alina turned to see him, the face of an old friend, she saw only darkness.

In her effort to find him, Alina’s body began to ache as she turned and twisted, her search becoming frantic as the darkness grew around her. It was like holding water. The more she wanted to see him, the more distant Mal became.

“Mal!” she cried, “Mal!”

She couldn’t find him in this world of complete darkness. And the anguish of that loss, a feeling both old and new, fed into the pain of betrayal that was wrenching through her gut. It was a familiar pain, one that ought to have been dulled after so many years, but made all the more worse for the sickening sense of Mal disappearing to smoke before her eyes.

A sob ripped from her. “Mal,” she now begged, “help me, please.” While the surrounding darkness around her swelled and recoiled at her plea, Mal provided no new answer. He only spoke as he had before.

_Don’t trust. Don’t trust. Don’t trust. Alina. Nothing but trouble. Nothing but trouble. Trouble._

The words repeated over and over until they were a crescendo in her mind. It was a living chorus, reaching deep, taking hold, and pulling her from the dark.

**_don’ttrustdon’ttrustnothingbuttroubletroubledon’ttrustalinaalina_ **

In that moment, with nothing but the receding darkness and the sound of Mal’s words still ringing in her head, Alina awoke.

**

Shuddering awake, Alina gasped and shot upright. The sudden movement brought her body to sitting position in the bed, allowing her arms to swing into the empty air, clutching at nothing. There was not a single thing to hold onto, save for the bed beneath her. It made Alina sucker in small, sharp breaths as she adjusted to the gloom around her and wished for anything solid enough to steady the frenzied beating of her heart.

After a minute or two, Alina judged that she was kept in a small, featureless room. Other than the bed, a single door, and a window, there was little else in ornamentation. Though the window supplied some degree of light to the room, it was not enough to inform Alina what time of day it was. Even worse than the lack of light, was that the room offered no indication of _where_ she was.

As awful as that realisation was, Alina refused to give in to her growing sense of panic. Instead, she would have to _think_. And think carefully.

But thinking clearly was becoming something of an issue.

Her memories of before were blurred. When Alina summed all her concentration to think on where she had been before waking up here, her mind rebelled and a wave of dizziness overcame her. Alina tried to push through the cloud in her mind, to remember anything at all, but it was too much. An invisible barrier was placed between her and any memories she had of what must have been only a night ago. She groaned in frustration even as her spell of dizziness made her feel closer and closer to nausea.

Taking another deep breath, Alina took a moment to settle her body. Even if her recent memories were sluggish, she still had to leave this darkened, shadow infested room. Peering around the room did little good. The room was perhaps as nondescript as Alina had ever seen. And those shadows that crept along in the furthest and darkest corners of the room like silent sentinels, they were –

 _No_.

How had she arrived in this place? Alina’s first inclination was that maybe she had too much _kvas_. It would explain the gaps in her memory. And maybe she had also taken a stranger to bed. That would explain why she was here and not at her own place. Those were perfectly reasonable explanations. Yet instinct screamed at her otherwise.

Alina scrambled out of the bed. She pulled off the covers and felt sudden relief that she was still wearing her usual clothes. Dizziness threatened to overcome her again, but she ignored it in her frantic race to get out.

Despite her clouded mind, one thought still rang out clearly. She had to leave here and quickly. It was what pushed Alina to move, but strangely, her body was becoming as stubbornly uncooperative as her brain. She was moving too clumsily, too slowly, and her ungainly steps toward the door were only costing her time.

Fighting for every step, Alina forced her body to comply to her command. She knew then and there that if she were asked to crawl to freedom, she would. Anything it took to make it to that door, she would give.

Her body was aching. And she wondered what had been done to her. To cause her foggy memories and to cause such an ache in her body.

If it were _him_ behind this, she would never forgive him. Not for this.

At that thought, the panic Alina had tried to stay threatened to fill her. This could not be how it ended. She needed more time, more freedom than just a single taste – but most of all, she needed to get to that damn door.

The door was a short step away. Alina gathered her remaining strength, hauling her body to close the last distance. It caused another dull ache to course through her body to move even that far, but she prayed to any saint that would listen to her. _Let the door be unlocked. Please_. Finally, her hand grasped around the doorhandle, she pulled, and the door opened with a soft click.

A sob of relief heaved through Alina. She crossed the threshold, breathing heavily.

Then she stopped.

Only an emptiness, a distinct lack of anything, laid before her. There was _nothing_ ahead of her. Alina felt a chill of horror sweep down her spine.

 _Merzost_. Of the worst kind.

She took a careful step back. To feel the grazing touch of a shadow along her neck.

Alina turned, and saw how the darkness and shadows greeted her once more. No longer slinking in the corners, they coiled throughout the room with all the grace of a nest of vipers. The sight made Alina bite down on her panic and fear. There was no place for such emotions here. Not now.

“There are easier ways to get my attention, you know,” Alina called to the darkened room.

In response, the shadows edged closer to Alina and began to fill the room as they loomed over her. At the sight of it, she could no longer hide the trembling that ran along her body. Or the flush of real fear needling her skin. Though she knew differently, she would later say it was the _merzost_ , lingering so near to where she now stood, which inspired such fear.

But that wasn’t true. No, it was only the sudden remembrance of old, painful memories that caused Alina such fear. Something which she was sure he knew.

 _Alina_. _My Alina_.

The shadows echoed the words as they moved and swarmed towards her and then over her. Alina closed her eyes, feeling every heavy touch of shadow on her skin, not even knowing whether she wanted to run from that touch or sink into it. It stopped as suddenly as it happened.

Opening her eyes, Alina waited until she saw him. The Shadow Summoner – a man made of flesh from shadow.

“Aleksander,” Alina intoned, as that man, the Shadow Summoner, came to her. His name served as much of a reminder to him as to her – a reminder of his own humanity, something which he quite often liked to forget, and something which she could never forget.

He halted, and Alina could see how his hands stirred as if to reach out again and trail a path across her skin. She could guess how his instinct warred against his reason. How he did not want to touch her, and how he did. She wondered which would win out, when he gripped her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. While his other arm tightened to her waist, his grip was none too gentle, leaving Alina all too aware of the inner war that was still raging within him.

“Why?” Alina asked him, though her trembling had hardly subsided, some part of her needed to know every reason why he had trapped her like this.

Not immediately answering, his thumb idly stroked circles into her cheek and neck. “Because you asked. You were so alone, Alina,” he quietly said, leaning closer into her.

It was then that Alina saw her chance.

In a turn of second, Alina had struck him hard.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I hope to release the next chapter soon.


End file.
